E-40 Gets His Gouda, Responds to Haters

If success can be judged by the number of haters, then E-40 has officially made it. The slang master and self-proclaimed "Ambassador of the Bay" stopped by AOL Music's New York studios Wednesday to answer questions about his credibility posed by the San Francisco-based organization Hyphy, Inc., a group named after the Bay Area's answer to crunk.

"First of all, they try to say don't nobody care about me in the Bay," he said. "They don't know what they're talkin' about. 40 Water's a fixture. You can't erase my stripes, you squares! They trying to build their web site by talking about me, but the real cats know what I'm doing. They see me getting my Gouda. They see me puttin' the Bay on the map."

He also defended his new label boss against accusations that the two are exploiting the culture. "Lil Jon didn't sign me because of the hyphy thing. Lil Jon signed me because he's a fan of mine and I'm a fan of his. Game recognize game, you smell me? Those who hatin', man, get somewhere where they love you at, suckers!"